A quantitative analysis of the impact of reclamation on the stability of coastal wetlands

Abstract

The ecological stability of coastal areas is seriously affected by tidal flat reclamation. Understanding the spatial characteristics of the impact of reclamation on stability, as well as the contribution of different use types of reclamation to stability change, is important for mitigating the negative effects of reclamation. In this study, multi-source and multi-temporal remote sensing images were combined to quantitatively analyze the relationship between reclamation and stability in different regions of the coastal area in Jiangsu Province, as well as the relative contribution of different use types of reclamation to the stability change. The results showed that: Different forms of statistical relationships between reclamation and stability existed in reclaimed area and non-reclaimed area, respectively, while a significant quadratic function relationship existed in the whole affected area, and the stability index decreased first and then increased with the increase of reclamation amount, with a threshold of 1243 km2; In different buffer zones within the non-reclaimed area, the impact intensity of reclamation showed spatial decay characteristics; The use type of reclamation that has the greatest impact on stability in the reclaimed area is aquaculture land, while in the non-reclaimed area it is arable land. In addition, aquaculture land, arable land and hydraulic engineering land have negative effects on stability, while salt industry land has positive effects.